Youngsters create their own eco-school designs
PUPILS from more than a dozen schools in South Wales recently met in Cardiff to begin a sustainable-design challenge to get them thinking about their responsibility towards the environment.
Students from 14 primaries gathered in their eco teams at Thornhill Primary School to plan an exhibition of their ideal eco-school.
Each team was tasked with finding and suggesting solutions to eco problems they faced in their own schools and designing a school to combat those issues.
The winning exhibitions will be displayed in the entrance hall of the National Museum Wales in the spring.
Liz Berry, Thornhill Primary School eco-coordinator, said: “The launch day was a huge success and there was a fabulous buzz of learning... as eco co-ordinators worked with their small groups to dis- cuss the challenges they faced in their own schools.
“The children thoroughly enjoyed meeting each other and at one stage some of them were even spying on each other to steal ideas to take back to their own schools.
“Everyone seemed thrilled to be part of the project and we are all looking forward to seeing the finished exhibition.”
The pupils’ exhibits will explore the themes of reducing, reusing and recycling waste and will take any format from hands-on activities, film clips, and art displays.
Prizes will be awarded for their innovation, creativity, sustainability and team work and assessed by a panel of judges from the National Museum Wales, Keep Wales Tidy and City of Cardiff Council.
Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Sustainability, Coun Ramesh Patel, said: “There are fantastic strides being taken across the city to reduce our carbon footprint, but to achieve our aim of making Cardiff a One Planet city, we also need to engage young people with ideas around energy reduction and sustainability.
“This challenge is a great opportunity to do exactly that and I wish everyone taking part the best of luck.”
The winners will be announced in January when all the schools return to Thornhill Primary School to have their exhibits judged.